West Palm Beach truck accident lawyer

West Palm Beach’s most common types of truck accidents

Palm Beach County’s freight corridors and tourist traffic create specific crash patterns. The ones we see most:

• Underride crashes: Your car slides under the trailer, often shearing off the roof. Common on I-95 at night when trailers lack the reflective conspicuity tape required by FMCSA rules.
• Jackknife collisions: The trailer swings out perpendicular to the cab, sweeping across multiple lanes. Frequent on the Turnpike during sudden braking in heavy rain.
• Rollover crashes: Top-heavy tankers and overloaded flatbeds tip on tight ramps like the I-95/Okeechobee Boulevard interchange.
• Rear-end collisions at intersections: Loaded trucks need the length of a football field to stop. Drivers blow through changing lights on Southern Boulevard and Okeechobee Boulevard.
• Wide-turn crashes: Trucks swing left to make a right turn and crush cars in the adjacent lane, common downtown near Clematis Street and on narrow streets feeding the Port of Palm Beach.
• Tire blowout and equipment-failure wrecks: Retreads peeling off in summer heat, brake failures from skipped inspections, hitch separations on cargo loaded out-of-spec.

Steps to take after a truck crash

Make sure 911 was your first call from the scene. Once you’re home from the hospital, the next set of decisions tends to shape your case more than most people realize:

1. Get follow-up medical care this week, not next month. Internal injuries, brain injuries, and disc damage often surface days later. Gaps in your treatment records are among the first things trucking insurers tend to flag when arguing that injuries weren’t serious.
2. Photograph everything before it disappears. Your vehicle damage. Your injuries as they heal. The clothes you wore. Save the crash report and any tow company paperwork.
3. Don’t give the trucking insurer a recorded statement. Statements you give to insurers in the first days after a crash can be used during claims valuation to argue your injuries are less serious than they appear. Refer them to your attorney.
4. Send a spoliation letter, through a lawyer, within days. Truck black-box data, dashcam footage, driver logs, and dispatch records can be legally overwritten in as few as 30 days. A formal preservation demand stops that clock.

Step four matters more than most clients realize. Call us before the data is gone: (561) 655-1990.

How to prove negligence in a West Palm Beach truck accident

Truck cases turn on layered evidence that doesn’t exist in a standard car wreck. A truck accident lawyer West Palm Beach victims hire should be pulling all of it:

• Electronic Control Module (ECM) data: the truck’s “black box,” storing speed, braking, throttle position, and hard-stop events. We subpoena it before the carrier can claim it was overwritten.
• Electronic Logging Device (ELD) records: required since 2017 under 49 CFR § 395.8. The ELD shows whether the driver violated federal Hours of Service rules. A driver 90 minutes past their 11-hour limit gives strong evidence for a fatigue-based claim.
• Driver qualification file: under 49 CFR Part 391, carriers must keep records of medical certs, road tests, and prior violations. We’ve found drivers with disqualifying medical conditions still behind the wheel.
• Maintenance and inspection logs: 49 CFR Part 396 requires documented preventive maintenance. Missing or backdated logs point straight at the carrier.
• Bills of lading and cargo records: overloaded or improperly secured cargo can shift liability to the shipper or loader, not just the driver.
• The driver’s personal cell phone records: subpoenaed to prove distracted driving at the moment of impact.

Florida applies modified comparative negligence under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, amended by HB 837 in March 2023. If you’re found more than 50% at fault, you recover nothing. If you’re 30% at fault, your damages are reduced by 30%. That math gives the trucking insurer a strong incentive to shift fault onto you, which is why adjusters often push for recorded statements in the first days after a crash.

The Florida Statute of Limitations for truck accidents

HB 837 cut Florida’s negligence statute of limitations from four years to two years. Under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(a), you now have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury or property damage lawsuit. Wrongful death claims run on a separate two-year clock under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(d), starting from the date of death, not the date of the crash.

Two years can pass quickly. Medical treatment can take eighteen months. Expert reconstruction, deposition discovery, and pre-suit demands eat the rest. Waiting even a few months to call a lawyer shrinks your window in ways most people don’t see coming.

Potential compensation available after a truck accident

Florida lets injured truck accident victims pursue three categories of damages.

Economic damages cover medical bills, future medical care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage, and out-of-pocket costs. Documented and provable on paper.

Non-economic damages compensate for pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, scarring, and loss of enjoyment of life. No receipts, but real losses, Florida juries are allowed to compensate.

Punitive damages are capped under Fla. Stat. § 768.73, available only when the trucking company or driver acted with gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Examples include driving drunk, falsifying logs to mask fatigue, or knowingly dispatching a truck with failed brakes.

When the crash killed a family member, Fla. Stat. § 768.21 governs wrongful death damages: lost support and services, loss of companionship, mental pain and suffering for surviving spouses and children, funeral costs, and medical expenses paid before death.

Learn more: What is the average claim for an 18-wheeler accident?

Federal trucking regulations and your case

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) set the rules for how commercial trucks operate in the U.S., and that’s where a West Palm Beach truck accident attorney finds most of the evidence needed to prove liability. The rules we rely on most:

• 49 CFR Part 395 (Hours of Service): Property-carrying drivers can drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 hours off duty, with a 14-hour on-duty window. Violations are closely associated with fatigue-related crashes.
• 49 CFR Part 396 (Maintenance): Carriers must inspect, repair, and maintain every vehicle. Brake failures, tire defects, and lighting violations are documented here.
• 49 CFR Part 391 (Driver Qualifications): Medical certification, driving records, and road tests. We’ve cracked cases on disqualified drivers that a carrier should never have hired.
• 49 CFR Part 382 (Drug and Alcohol Testing): Mandatory post-accident testing within hours of any qualifying crash. Missed or skipped tests support negligence claims.

When a carrier violates these rules, and a crash follows, that’s negligence per se under Florida law. The violation itself helps establish liability.

Talk to a West Palm Beach truck accident lawyer today

If you or someone you love was hurt in a crash with a commercial truck anywhere in Palm Beach County, Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath can help. We’ve built four decades of trial work on cases exactly like yours. Call (561) 655-1990 or contact us online for a free consultation.

Frequently asked questions about West Palm Beach truck accidents

How much does it cost to hire a truck accident lawyer?

Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means our attorney’s fees come out of any compensation we recover for you. If we don’t recover compensation, you owe no attorney’s fees. Separate costs may still apply.

Do truck accident cases usually go to trial or settle?

Most settle. The settlements we negotiate tend to be stronger when the trucking insurer believes we’ll take the case to trial rather than accept their initial offer. We prepare every file as if it’s headed to a Palm Beach County courtroom.

Why are truck accident claims more complicated than car accident claims?

Multiple defendants: the driver, the carrier, the cargo loader, the maintenance contractor, and sometimes the truck or parts manufacturer. Federal regulations are layered on top of Florida law. Higher insurance limits. Evidence that disappears in 30 days. Each piece needs an attorney who handles trucking cases specifically. 

What happens if the trucking company’s insurance contacts me?

Expect a polite call, a request for a recorded statement, and possibly a fast settlement offer. Avoid agreeing to either. Many insurers calculate that early offers stick when injured people don’t yet know the full extent of their losses. Refer them to your attorney right away.